King Street Pilot Study - second public meeting

posted by Joe Cressy on May 09, 2017

King Street is the busiest surface transit route in the entire City, carrying more than 65,000 riders on a typical weekday. It is a critical downtown spine, connecting neighbourhoods, the largest employment centre in the entire country, and diverse urban forms and uses.

But we recognize that King Street isn't working well. Streetcars are often stuck in mixed traffic, making it challenging to keep transit service running smoothly. This often results in bunching and gapping of vehicles, uneven utilization of capacity, streetcar congestion and overcrowded vehicles. During rush hour, people are often unable to board the first streetcar that arrives.

Please join me at the second public consultation on the King Street Pilot Study.

The King Street Pilot Study is about exploring bold, transformative ideas for how to redesign King Street in order to move people on transit more efficiently, improve placemaking and the public realm, and support business and economic prosperity.

At this public meeting, the City will be seeking feedback on a preferred pilot design that has been developed. Consultation and engagement is a critical part of the King Street Pilot Study, and a variety of community and neighbourhood groups, businesses and BIAs, and other key stakeholders have been involved in the development of the preferred design.

Meeting details:

Thursday, May 18th, 2017

6:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.

InterContinental Toronto Centre, Ballroom

225 Front St W, Toronto, ON M5V 2X3

(Front St W. & Simcoe St.)

Over the past few years, the City and TTC have recently been making operational changes to improve streetcar service, including: allowing all-door loading (to become more effective with the new low-floor streetcars); adding supplemental buses; extending turning and on-street parking restrictions; optimizing transit stop locations and route running times; adding route supervisors; and improving night service.

But a more significant change is needed to improve transit service on this critical artery in our neighbourhoods. Like we're doing in so many other areas – community facilities, new parkland, and more – we must both catch up with growth and plan for the future.

Why a Pilot?

Pilot projects are an efficient and cost-effective way for us to quickly test out new ideas in order to learn important lessons about what works and what doesn't. The City can monitor and collect data to measure how overall objectives are being met and make adjustments before a larger investment in permanent infrastructure is made. Pilot projects also offer an opportunity to have discussions with stakeholders and the public about new ideas. The City has used pilot projects on a number of other projects, most notably the Bloor Cycling Pilot and the Richmond-Adelaide Cycle Tracks.

The King St. pilot project(s) will test a range of options to determine what might further improve transit reliability, capacity, and efficiency.